Job

I’m Getting Old…Awesome!

/ Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

I’m not one

to speak much

about getting old

 

to recite the aches

and pains,

tiredness and slowing

 

And I guess I got that

from my parents

who still act youthful

 

never really talking about getting old

and how things don’t work

like they used to

 

It’s refreshing

and it’s good to be around

elders like that

 

For getting older

may be tough physically

but what beauty awaits the young!

 

God tells us

that the longer we walk with Him,

the more rooted we become

 

The more we take in Him

and His Words,

the more we flourish and grow

 

What a profound truth!

 

As we get weaker,

as we bow lower,

we can be stronger

 

than ever before

 

Strengthened inwardly

standing taller

grounding deeper

 

in Truth

 

Bearing more

and more

and more

fruit

 

the longer we live

 

And not focusing

on what is feeble

but on what is strong

 

and that is

our character

our hope

our perseverance

 

our relationship with Jesus

who walks with us

 

And the older we get

the wiser we get

and the closer we get

to eternity’s home

 

Our graduation

to bliss

and God-awareness

and pure light

 

Forever

 

So the temporary aches

and temporary slowing

is just that

 

temporary

 

But what is growing

and flourishing

inside

 

is Forever

 

Don’t listen to the world

about aging,

Listen to God

 

– Susie Stewart

 

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But the godly will flourish like palm trees
    and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.
    They flourish in the courts of our God.
Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
    they will remain vital and green.
They will declare, “The Lord is just!
    He is my rock!
    There is no evil in Him!”

Psalm 92:12-15 (NLT)

 

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

– 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)

 

The glory of young men is their [physical] strength, And the honor of aged men is their gray head [representing wisdom and experience].

– Proverbs 20:29 (AMP)

 

The silver-haired head is a crown of splendor and glory; It is found in the way of righteousness.

–  Proverbs 16:31 (AMP)

 

Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.

– Job 12:12 (NLT)

 

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in His hand who saith, ‘A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!

– Robert Browning

 

 

Photos by Susie & Arik Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senses

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

You hear….

the whisper

 

And you know

it is unlimited power

brought quietly

 

You see…

the Artist’s brushstrokes

 

And you know

it is the Creator’s beautiful work

lovingly enveloping you

 

You taste…

the Bread & the Water

 

And you know

it is Jesus Himself

given to fill and sustain

 

You feel….

the uncompromising love

 

And you know

it could only come

from He who IS Love

 

Your senses tell you

daily

that He is God

 

– Susie Stewart

 

After the fire died out, there was nothing but the sound of a calm breeze. And through this breeze a gentle, quiet voice entered into Elijah’s ears…

– 1 Kings 19:12 (VOICE)

 

 However, call on the animals to teach you;
        the birds that sail through the air are not afraid to tell you the truth.
 Engage the earth in conversation; it’s happy to share what it knows.
        Even the fish of the sea are wise enough to explain it to you.
In fact, which part of creation isn’t aware,
        which doesn’t know the Eternal’s hand has done this?
His hand cradles the life of every creature on the face of the earth;
        His breath fills the nostrils of humans everywhere.

– Job 12:7-10 (VOICE)

 

 I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty.

– John 6:35 (VOICE)

 

…God is love.

– 1 John 4:8 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

But God

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

I looked at her text

and it gave me pause

 

“Interesting times here, but God…”

 

But GOD

with three tiny dots

 

And it got me to thinking

 

about how God is always present

and supremely sovereign

 

And no matter what…

 

BUT GOD

 

So I went on a search

through the Scriptures

 

and found His hand

working in our circumstances

in the middle of our humanness

 

in the pain

in the joys

 

in the midst…

 

But God…

was in

and about

and through

and all over

 

He is here

and He is aware

and He is at work

 

in our present circumstances

 

And no matter what,

our sentence can end

with “but God…”

 

– Susie Stewart

 

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

– Geness 8:1 (NIV)

 

But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night…

– Genesis 20:3 (NIV)

 

He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.

– Genesis 31:5 (NIV)

 

…But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands…

– Genesis 31:42 (NIV)

 

“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

– Genesis 41:16 (NIV)

 

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

– Genesis 45:7 (NIV)

 

“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

– Genesis 45:8 (NIV)

 

Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you…”

– Genesis 48:21

 

 

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

– Genesis 50:20

 

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid…”

– Genesis 50:24

 

 

…But God did not answer him that day.

– 1 Samuel 14:37

 

David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

– 1 Samuel 23:14

 

But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.

– 1 Kings 5:4

 

…For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

– 2 Chronicles 20:15

 

With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.

– 2 Chronicles 32:8

 

 

But the eye of their God was watching…

– Ezra 5:5

 

“But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage.

– Ezra 9:8

 

…But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…

– Nehemiah 9:17

 

But in Your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

– Nehemiah 9:31

 

But God drags away the mighty by His power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

– Job 24:22

 

But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

– Psalm 9:18

 

But You, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

– Psalm 10:14

 

 

But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; He will surely take me to Himself.

– Psalm 49:15

 

…but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.

– Psalm 66:19

 

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

– Psalm 73:26

 

But God is my King from long ago; He brings salvation on the earth.

– Psalm 74:12

 

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

– Psalm 86:15

 

But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.

– Psalm 94:22

 

But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by His righteous acts.

– Isaiah 5:16

 

But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King.

– Jeremiah 10:10

 

But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

– Jeremiah 10:12

 

…but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.

– Daniel 2:28

 

…But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.

– Jonah 2:6

 

 

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

– Matthew 19:26

 

…but God knows your hearts….

– Luke 16:15

 

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

– Acts 2:24

 

You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

– Acts 3:15

 

But God was with him…

– Acts 7:9

 

…but God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen.

– Acts 10:40

 

But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.

– Acts 26:22

 

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

– Romans 5:8

 

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

– 1 Corinthians 1:27

 

But God has put the body together…

– 1 Corinthians 12:24

 

But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us…

– 2 Corinthians 7:6

 

…I do not know, but God knows—

– 2 Corinthians 12:3

 

 

Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

– Philippians 2:27

 

 

…but God is the builder of everything.

– Hebrews 3:4

 

…but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness.

– Hebrews 12:10

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

Thunder

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Your voice will not be denied,

God of Heaven and earth

 

It thunders,

for Your power rumbles great

 

And we should all be

extremely grateful

that our God of Thunder

 

does not pour out His holy wrath

every time we rebel against You

 

For Your power is staggering

and Your voice immense

 

My heart listens for Your quiet voice

knowing Your thunderous voice is coming

 

when holiness brings judgment

with a loud and deafening clap

 

And there are those who hide in Your shelter

and those who stand exposed

 

I will be sheltered

by my Jesus’ sacrificial love

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The Lord thundered from heaven. The Most High made His voice heard.

– 2 Samuel 22:14 (GW)

 

Whenever this happens, my heart stops—
I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to His thunder,
the rolling, rumbling thunder of His voice.
He lets loose His lightnings from horizon to horizon,
lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes His voice,
powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, He holds nothing back.
No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
His mighty acts staggering our understanding.

– Job 37:1-5 (MSG)

 

For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

– Psalm 27:5 (NIV)

 

The blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered with a voice that rumbled like thunder.

– Exodus 19:19 (VOICE)

 

The Eternal thundered in the heavens; the Highest spoke; His voice rumbled [in the midst of hail and lightning].

– Psalm 18:13 (VOICE)

 

I was caught up at once in deep worship and, oh!—a Throne set in Heaven with One Seated on the Throne, suffused in gem hues of amber and flame with a nimbus of emerald. Twenty-four thrones circled the Throne, with Twenty-four Elders seated, white-robed, gold-crowned. Lightning flash and thunder crash pulsed from the Throne. Seven fire-blazing torches fronted the Throne (these are the Sevenfold Spirit of God). Before the Throne it was like a clear crystal sea.

– Revelation 4:4-6 (MSG)

 

After the fire, there was a still small voice.

 – 1 Kings 19:12 (WEB)

 

“Pagosa Springs” sung by my brother, Danny Oertli

 

All In

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

All is His

and yet we grasp at it

 

He rules all

and yet we try to control

 

And when we don’t surrender

that which is already His

 

it only creates fear

and anger,

angst and worry

 

And it means that we aren’t all in

with Him

 

And once it is laid down

in love and obedience

 

He takes it and He blesses the sacrifice

done in worship

 

And there is peace in the soul of the one

who laid down the control

that was never his to begin with

 

– Susie Stewart

 

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.

– Romans 12:1 (NLT)

 

If only you would prepare your heart
and lift up your hands to Him in prayer!

– Job 11:13 (NLT)

 

That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.

– Romans 6:12-14 (MSG)

 

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.

– C.T. Studd

 

Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow You,” he said.

– Mark 10:28 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Your Number

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

No matter what you do

or where you go

or who you come into contact with

the Lord has chosen the number of your days

 

You can’t grit your teeth

and will

one extra day

out of life

 

He is the Author,

you are the created

 

He gets to choose

 

And we often don’t understand

why some have 1 day

and some have a 100 years

 

But we trust

 

And we know

that He will fulfill His purposes

for each of our lives

 

– Susie Stewart

 

You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.

– Job 14:5 (NLT)

 

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

– Psalm 138:8 (ESV)

 

You see all things; You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb; Every detail of my life was already written in Your book; You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it.

– Psalm 139:16 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Big

/ Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

You are big enough

to create an endless universe

 

with words and will

 

You are big enough

to have Your eye on billions of souls

 

always

 

You are big enough

to hold everything and everyone

 

in Your hand

 

and yet

You are mine

 

You hold everything together

and all the while, You speak tenderly to my heart

 

You are big

beyond comprehension

 

but You love

one-on-one

 

personally

in the closest way

 

as if You were not so big

 

but I’m glad You are

for that is why

 

I can trust you with the small

 

– Susie Stewart

 
God stretches the northern sky over empty space
and hangs the earth on nothing.

He wraps the rain in His thick clouds,
and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.

He covers the face of the moon,
shrouding it with His clouds.

He created the horizon when He separated the waters;
He set the boundary between day and night.
The foundations of heaven tremble;
they shudder at His rebuke.
By His power the sea grew calm.
By His skill He crushed the great sea monster.
His Spirit made the heavens beautiful,
and His power pierced the gliding serpent.
These are just the beginning of all that He does,
merely a whisper of His power.
Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of His power?

– Job 26:7-14 (NLT)

 

When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers—
the moon and the stars You set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that You should care for them?

– Psalm 8:3,4 (NLT)

 

O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!

– Jeremiah 32:17 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

 

Breath and Beat

/ Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

Stop for a moment

and notice each breath you take

 

Put your hand on your heart

and feel it pulse

 

Life within you

given by God

 

Each breath a gift

each heartbeat His to give

 

You are alive

 

Are you alive in Him?

Or are you merely existing?

 

Does His heart beat in you?

Does the Life-Giving Spirit breathe in you?

 

– Susie Stewart

 

His speech shaped the entire cosmos.
Immersed in the practice of creating,
all things that exist were birthed in Him.
His breath filled all things
with a living, breathing light—

– John 1:3,4 (VOICE)

 

…in Him we live and move and have our being…

– Acts 17:28 (NIV)

 

God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

– Genesis 2:7 (MSG)

 

For the Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

– Job 33:4 (NLT)

 

He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.

– Acts 17:25 (NLT)

 

I will give them a new will—an undivided heart—and plant a new spirit within them; I will remove their cold, stony heart and replace it with a warm heart of flesh.

– Ezekiel 11:19 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Higher Still

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

You say you don’t know why

and how He could let it happen

 

And you try to understand,

to know what He’s thinking

 

But His thoughts

are so beyond

 

And His ways

not even in range

 

So we trust that He Is

I AM

 

 

and that He took our fallen selves

and loved us still

 

He took our brokenness

and provided hope

 

He IS our Hope

and our mercy’s hand

 

He IS our Lifeline

 

And though we don’t understand

or comprehend His ways

 

We can know

He is our Answer

 

All questions are shrouded

in the glory of who He is

 

– Susie Stewart

 

How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!

– Psalm 147:5 (NLT)

 

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways
and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

– Isaiah 5:8,9 (NLT)

 

Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of His understanding.

– Isaiah 40:28 (NLT)

 

God stretches the northern sky over empty space
and hangs the earth on nothing.
He wraps the rain in His thick clouds,
and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.
He covers the face of the moon,
shrouding it with His clouds.
He created the horizon when He separated the waters;
He set the boundary between day and night.
The foundations of heaven tremble;
they shudder at His rebuke.
By His power the sea grew calm.
By His skill He crushed the great sea monster.
His Spirit made the heavens beautiful,
and His power pierced the gliding serpent.
These are just the beginning of all that He does,
merely a whisper of His power.
Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of His power?”

– Job 26:7-14 (NLT)

 

“Indeed, through His own gracious revelation of Himself, we can understand God in part, but we can never fully comprehend Him, or even a single one of His qualities. There will always be more of His wisdom to understand, more of His power, more of His holiness, more of His love. We will never fathom Him, and we will never tire of Him. Through all eternity, we will look upon Him and marvel at the endlessly creative, wonderfully gracious, uniquely righteous, timelessly beautiful, unsearchably glorious, infinitely loving Maker and Ruler of all.”

– Kevin Hartnett

 

When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—

what are mere mortals that You should think about them,
human beings that You should care for them?

Psalm 8:3,4 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart